Need help with Samsung Tab 7.7 (SCH-I815LSV) - Galaxy Tab 7.7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I'll give you the whole story so bear with me. First off, I'm very new to the Android OS and tinkering with phones and tabs. I'm a computer network administrator and pc mechanic. I'm mainly a hardware guy though, no programming experience at all. But I'm not afraid to jump right into the inner workings though, especially if it's already broken.
And that's probably why I find myself in this position today with this device.
I recently bought this Tab 7.7 to use as a display for my new drone. When it arrived I tried to download the flight control app and it refused to install. No error messages, it just did not install. In looking, the unit was on Honeycomb 3.0. My guess was it was WAY behind in upgrades so off I went to make it bigger and better. I downloaded a zip file for Lollipop 5.1 onto my SD card and was able to load that. Upon reboot I had a screen and an OS. I went into settings and saw where it had upgraded. Success, right? Well, then I went into Wi-Fi settings to add my network. The keyboard would not come up on screen. So I did a bit more research and tripped over the fact that I needed to also load a GAPPS file to add the apps and drivers back. THAT is when I went down the rabbit hole.
The install did not go well and I somehow wound up with no OS at all. Probably after thinking I was following the correct process of resetting and clearing caches before installing the new files. Then this 3 day journey of learning began. I have downloaded Odin, Notepad++ to edit files, Minimal ADB and Fastboot, Samsung KIES and all manners of ROM builds and GAPP files. As of this moment I have absolutely no OS on the unit. Upon turn on it goes directly into the CWM Recovery v6.0.4.5 screen. I am able to boot it to the download screen and Odin can SEE the unit. But I can't get any further with that program other than seeing the unit listed as detected. I'm not able to get anywhere with KIES. No detection or anything.
Now I'm admitting I messed this unit up. I'm not blaming any written procedure or ROM developer. I'm not stupid but evidently don't know all I NEED to know about this process. So I'm here asking for guidance. I really would like to revive this unit and get it back to where I can use it as my monitor as originally planned. But one step at a time. Please give me the correct steps to do to get an OS reloaded and revive this unit.
I'm thinking that my best bet would be to use a TWRP image file to rebuild it. But I need the step by step process for that to make sure I do it correctly.
MANY thanks for this board and the help AOT!!!
Dave

Being the impatient type as well as a DIY'er, I pressed on with trying to revive it myself. I downloaded TWRP as a zip file and added it to the SD card. Booted and installed from the zip file. Screen said it loaded successfully. I rebooted and tried going into recovery (holding power and volume up) expecting it to go into the TWRP console. Instead it went into the regular CWM Recovery screen. Oh well, another frustrating dead end for me. I'll just set it aside until I get some good instructions from someone that knows what they're doing. Best I do that rather than brick it. I can at least access the recovery screen. Odin sees the unit but I cannot find the right file to load from there.

Okay, I'm truly stopping now. Another dead end. I was able to find a couple of files for restore using Odin. Loaded one and now I boot into Android system recovery <3a> instead of the CWM Recovery screen as before. I tried loading a recovery image from a zip file and it failed signature. That seemed to be telling me the tab is now not rooted. So I downloaded SuperSU to the SD card and tried to load it. No joy, it fails signature too.
Arrrggghhhh.........

Can't even shut it down.

Told you I'm impatient. Now have used Odin and installed TWRP 3.0.2-0. Going slowly now. Taking it one step at a time. This is the first positive step I've had so far in 3 days.
:silly:

Baby steps. LOL
Used TWRP to flash SuperSU. Now the unit is rooted and rebooted to TWRP. I still have no OS on there as of yet. I'm guessing my next step is finding a good stable ROM file and use TWRP to flash onto the tab.

Downloaded OmniROM Marshmallow 6.0.1 (https://androidfilehost.com/?w=file...69dc16313bf0332c8794621c6c7f505edf855e0d499d8) and the Open GApps ARM 6.0 stock file (http://opengapps.org/).
Will try to flash those through TWRP and hope for the best.

Joy...at last. The downloaded OMNI 6.0.1 worked when loaded using TWRP. The GApp file failed. Will try another one to see if it works.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/software/app-minimal-gapps-gapps-lp-20150107-1-t2997368

Booted to TWRP and was going to install the GApps file. I had left OMNI 6.0.1 on the card too and by mistake selected it. Dooohhh......
I'm an accident waiting for a place to happen. LOL
So, after REloading Android 6.0 I proceeded to load the gapps base file. Reboot and all appears to be going smooth. Apps updating and such. After about 2 minutes I get a message onscreen that unfortunately setup wizard has stopped. Hit okay but the message persists to pop up.
So.....
I guess I'll take a short break then do a wipe and reload of the OMNI and the working gap file and see what happens. At least I got to see it actually boot and let me get into setup. I went to add my Wi-Fi network, added the credentials but it never connected. Something else to look into.
More fun ahead....but at least I'm moving forward now.

A happy camper. Because I was able to revive this tab and because I had the patience to figure it out myself. And my wife swears I have no patience.
LOL
So...the key was downloading Odin and the Samsung drivers on my laptop.
Then download the TWRP.tar file to the laptop.
Boot the tab into download mode by holding power and volume down button. Select yes to continue.
Connect the tab to the laptop with the USB cable. See that Odin can communicate with the tab.
Select AP and find the TWRP file location and start. After it finished, rebooted and since there was no OS installed, TWRP recovery opened.
The next thing was download SuperSU file and drop it onto the SD card. You CAN go ahead and find the correct ROM you want and download the file as well as the GApp file. Drop all 3 onto the SD card.
Then insert it into the tab and select Install. Just be very observant WHICH file you load in what order.
You will need to install the SuperSU, reboot and then install the OS ROM followed by the GApp file.
Select SD card and the SuperSU file. Wait for it to complete then reboot.
After loading SuperSU and reboot, you need to get back into TWRP Recovery program by rebooting while holding power and volume up. This time when you select Install, pick the ROM file first then pick additional files and select the GApp. This way TWRP will first install the OS from the ROM file and immediately load the apps file. Then reboot and you are done!!!
And it took 3 days of round about to figure this out.
LOL
I just downloaded my flight control app and I'm off and running with Marshmallow.
Hope this helps at least one person that is new to this whole process as I was!!!
Dave

Related

[Q] botched ROM load, now stuck in recovery hell

I got in a SK4g for my wife intent on upgrading her current phone. I own a 4g myself, and have Rooted/ROM'd it with no issues, we we thought it best to get her the same phone for ease of use/manipulation.
I got the phone in and used superoneclick to root it, then went through the process of putting CWM in place and installing GenericGinger_2.0_SK4G. The process ran smooth as glass (as expected) until it got to reboot. On reboot it hung up on the sidekick screen. After about an hour of waiting I pulled the battery and restarted the machine.
It came back up in recovery mode with the stock recovery (blue) text. Since then I haven't been able to get it to do anything but restart into that recovery screen. Odin doesn't see the phone in download mode and t839-Sidekick4G-UVKG2-One-Click does nothing. It shows it uploading, reboots the phone, and I'm back at the blue text. flashing the bootloaders with One-Click shows success on everything *except* uploading the bootloaders. If I tell it to re-install packages I get a 'cannot validate signature' response. I've tried using android commander to push CWM's recovery file to the phone and get 'permission' denied.
I've done a lot of searching on this site, trying most suggested fixes I've come across with no luck.
what can be done with this phone to get it back in operating condition?
Thanks in advance!
try installing kies odin wouldnt see my phone until i installed it
Kies installed and Odin saw the phone. excellent, thanks!
now, the next issue... lol
I used Odin to push KD1OdinSTOCK onto the phone. it's doing more than it was (going to the initial sidekick screen then dumping to recovery). Now it'll load through the sidekick and samsung splash screens, then reset and do it again. The same thing happens when I tried StockKG2ODIN. I'm using the sk4g.pit that I pulled from this site, could that have anything to do with it/is there another one around that I could try? Anybody have thoughts or ideas on what to do next? I've tried using t839-Sidekick4G-UVKG2-One-Click again, but it nuked the drivers kies put into place and dropped the phone back to what it was doing before.
okay, I did some light reading of this thread here
and followed the directions closely. I also went through sduvick's list of things to do with the following results:
Black screen, no logo.
1. Get into download mode by using VolDown+Touchpad+Power
2. flash full sk4g.tar.md5 as posted.
device will boot through the logo and splash screens, then repeat. note: if I leave the USB cable plugged in on reboot it will go to the battery screen, otherwise it just boot loops.
_________________________________
logo only
1. Download mode
2. Flash full package
device boot loops
_________________________________
Can't flash recovery/boot/sbl
1. Download mode
2. use PIT only, run with repartition checked
3. reboot/reDownload mode
4. run the full image in Odin.
PIT only returns a black screen on the device. running the full image in afterward returns to the boot loop.
_________________________________
Anything else
1. Download mode
2. Full tar.md5 flash in Odin
3. Ask if it doesn't work
okay, so I'm asking...
I'm still able to boot into recovery mode (blue text).
I've noted a bit of strange behavior when trying to boot into download mode. holding vol down + trackball + power does nothing. however, if I plug the phone in while powered down while holding down the trackball it'll boot into download mode, no power or vol down required.
If you can't flash with Odin, you may have a hardware problem.
Judging from your issue with installing Kies, you had a driver problem previously.
Seems that you are bumbling in the dark here. Once again, people need to be better prepared to Odin their devices before they start modding them.
In fact, getting Odin working should be the first thing a person should do with their phone after rooting and installing CWM.
Anyhow, try a different version of Odin. If that doesn't clear up your problem, I suspect some bad blocks in your flash memory are responsible here. It's a dorment issue that would really only be a problem when you flashed the device. If that's the case, you have a new paperweight.
Good luck.
i never could get kd1 to work try kg2
use pit check repartion and place tar file in pda
I don't think the problem is that I can't flash with Odin, but that the device isn't loading the ROM that's flashed. poking around in the filestructure with android commander after a fresh load shows that the system makes it onto the phone.
Speaking of poking around with Android Commander, I've noted that the device is software rooted, but not hardware rooted. the default.class file shows ro.debuggable set at 0 where it should be 1. this is keeping me from just pushing the CWM recovery onto the system and restoring the backup I made before getting into this mess. Anybody want to help me pull/edit/flash the image to change that?
As for a driver issue, that's a good possibility given that the one-click uses a driver set, kies mini uses another, kies has a different one yet and we (as a community) started screwing with the t839's using vibrant drivers. I've got them all. thusfar the only drivers I've found that work with both flavors of Odin I have (1.61 and 1.85) would be those that came with the Kies (thanks for the tip pmp326).
On bumbling in the dark, yes, yes I am. There isn't much of an instruction manual for Odin past what's written here, and 90% of that is 'put your phone in download mode, connect Odin, plug the pit in pit and the tar in PDA make sure only auto-reboot is checked and hit start'. to be honest I haven't had to use the program previously as the stock one-click actually worked on my T839. This new device is being ... difficult.
the dormant bad blocks issue you spoke about, was this something found in new-out-the-box phones? I haven't seen a lot about that in the threads, can you point in at more info, please?
at any rate, it doesn't matter which version of Odin I use, I got the same result from both. I tried using a different cable/different USB port as well. I haven't tried using a different system (yet), but don't want to go through all the trouble of setting up everything on another box. Win7 is finicky enough, trying to get everything operating on Server2k3 would most likely end up a challenge. *lol*
I'll try repartitioning with KG1 when I get back to the house.
Sounds like you are getting far enough to get your device working again to me.
If you can manage to get access to the file system with adb or Android Commander, you may be able to push the rest of the OS files you need directly. This may provide a way to get around your flashing problems.
Try adding the missing files directly with Android Commander.
also i had some troubles a while back while in recovery wipe data and cache turn off phone pull sd card then flash with odin
orange808 said:
Sounds like you are getting far enough to get your device working again to me.
If you can manage to get access to the file system with adb or Android Commander, you may be able to push the rest of the OS files you need directly. This may provide a way to get around your flashing problems.
Try adding the missing files directly with Android Commander.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've gotta pop the debug lock in the default.class to be able to push anything into the system folders with Android Commander. I've found a nice walk-thru to do this, it just requires a little knowledge of c++ and some patience. with any luck I should be able to pull default.class out of its img, edit it and flash that back (most likely with Heimdall since it can do itemized flashing).
pmp326 said:
i never could get kd1 to work try kg2
use pit check repartion and place tar file in pda
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tried it, no joy.
pmp326 said:
also i had some troubles a while back while in recovery wipe data and cache turn off phone pull sd card then flash with odin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tried this, brings me back to the boot loop.
orange808 said:
Sounds like you are getting far enough to get your device working again to me.
If you can manage to get access to the file system with adb or Android Commander, you may be able to push the rest of the OS files you need directly. This may provide a way to get around your flashing problems.
Try adding the missing files directly with Android Commander.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
currently I'm running into issues with getting ADB to push onto the system as the system is claiming it isn't rooted. Is there a way I haven't read about or found to root the phone without getting into the actual O/S (i.e. from the blue recovery screen)?
If you can get in to CWM Recovery you are fine.
If you cannot, just ODIN to stock.
If you cannot do that, or it doesn't boot after that, try a different PC, os, or drivers (x86 os is usually easier then an x64 os).
If it is still no good, buy a new phone on ebay .
Once booted, Root and install CWM first thing.
Once you are in CWM Recovery...
1) Check mounts (everything should be mounted, and therefore read "unmount [...]")
2) Format EVERYTHING one at a time: cache, data, system, sdcard (optional).
(sdcard should be fine, but to be sure you can format it too after backing it up to PC first and restore what you need after)
(you probably don't need to Wipe and Wipe-Dalvik as they should already be gone, but go ahead and do it anyway)
3) Check mounts again!
4) Install a ROM (must reload it to your sdcard first if you formatted your sdcard)
5) Check mounts one final time before rebooting.
That should ALWAYS work.
NOTE: This was said before: "2. flash full sk4g.tar.md5 as posted.", but that doesn't seem right... you should not be flashing a .md5 file... you need to flash the .tar... the .tar.md5 is just a checksum. (right?)
rpmccormick said:
If you can get in to CWM Recovery you are fine.
If you cannot, just ODIN to stock.
If you cannot do that, or it doesn't boot after that, try a different PC, os, or drivers (x86 os is usually easier then an x64 os).
If it is still no good, buy a new phone on ebay .
Once booted, Root and install CWM first thing.
Once you are in CWM Recovery...
1) Check mounts (everything should be mounted, and therefore read "unmount [...]")
2) Format EVERYTHING one at a time: cache, data, system, sdcard (optional).
(sdcard should be fine, but to be sure you can format it too after backing it up to PC first and restore what you need after)
(you probably don't need to Wipe and Wipe-Dalvik as they should already be gone, but go ahead and do it anyway)
3) Check mounts again!
4) Install a ROM (must reload it to your sdcard first if you formatted your sdcard)
5) Check mounts one final time before rebooting.
That should ALWAYS work.
NOTE: This was said before: "2. flash full sk4g.tar.md5 as posted.", but that doesn't seem right... you should not be flashing a .md5 file... you need to flash the .tar... the .tar.md5 is just a checksum. (right?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow... did you even *read* before posting? fail. I mean, thanks for taking the time to write that up and all, but you just repeated everything already said up to this point and included a summary of the ROM for n00bs thread.
Artemis257 said:
Wow... did you even *read* before posting? fail. I mean, thanks for taking the time to write that up and all, but you just repeated everything already said up to this point and included a summary of the ROM for n00bs thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like turtles.
Artemis257 said:
Wow... did you even *read* before posting? fail. I mean, thanks for taking the time to write that up and all, but you just repeated everything already said up to this point and included a summary of the ROM for n00bs thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even the end... I mean, your not trying to odin a "tar.md5" are you?
rpmccormick said:
Even the end... I mean, your not trying to odin a "tar.md5" are you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No....
Sorry man. I've never had to ODIN (this phone). I say check the md5 to make sure you downloaded a good copy, and maybe try a different USB cable. The ADB method seems nutz... if it doesn't boot after a successful ODIN, the phone is probably a paperweight.
Good luck!

[Q] Flashing Cyanogenmod 10 first time, won't get past boot up

Noob looking for all the help he can get!!!!!
Hi, I recently rooted my Samsung Galaxy S 2 for T-mobile, because I was sick of waiting for jelly bean to officialy come out for it, and ever since it's been a nightmare. I was running the most recent version of ICS that t-mobile has for my phone.
I got instructions on how to root at the unlocker . com
After that, I went to the Cyanogenmod website, went through their wiki and found the zip for my phone, (I also put the gapps zip on too). I booted into Clockwork mod recovery, did a back up, did a data wipe, but not a cache wipe as the instructions i was using from theunlocker.com did not say I had too. Flashed both zips from my external sd, then restarted. It booted with the Cyanogenmod name inside two spining circles. I left it like this knowing it may take a bit, and I come back 20 mins later expecting it to be done and it is in the same place i left it 20 mins ago. I decide to take out the battery, boot into Clockworkmod and restore. It booted fine back into ICS and all my data was still there, except all of the apps I had stored on my sd card would not work/show up with the icon it was supposed to. when i tapped it, it said that it was not installed on the phone. I decided not to let this worry me, as i decided to use ROM Manager app to do the job instead.
When i opened ROM Manager it prompted me to flash Clockworkmod recovery, so I did. It flashed my phone to Clockworkmod Recovery v6.0.2.7. I then went to download Cyanogenmod 10 for my phone. It downloaded with gapps 4.1. When I tapped install, it restarted my phone into Clockworkmod recovery, but did not install anything, just sent me to the main menu. So I decided i'd try getting the zip from the Cyanogenmod website again. I booted into Clockworkmod, wiped data AND cache this time. installed the zips, and restarted. I get the same problem, stuck at the cyanogenmod boot up circles spining. so i turn off my phone, boot back into clockworkmod, restore, and now i'm stuck in boot cycle with the stock ICS.
Please can anyone help me!?!?!?!
airplane888 said:
Noob looking for all the help he can get!!!!!
Hi, I recently rooted my Samsung Galaxy S 2 for T-mobile, because I was sick of waiting for jelly bean to officialy come out for it, and ever since it's been a nightmare. I was running the most recent version of ICS that t-mobile has for my phone.
I got instructions on how to root at the unlocker . com
After that, I went to the Cyanogenmod website, went through their wiki and found the zip for my phone, (I also put the gapps zip on too). I booted into Clockwork mod recovery, did a back up, did a data wipe, but not a cache wipe as the instructions i was using from theunlocker.com did not say I had too. Flashed both zips from my external sd, then restarted. It booted with the Cyanogenmod name inside two spining circles. I left it like this knowing it may take a bit, and I come back 20 mins later expecting it to be done and it is in the same place i left it 20 mins ago. I decide to take out the battery, boot into Clockworkmod and restore. It booted fine back into ICS and all my data was still there, except all of the apps I had stored on my sd card would not work/show up with the icon it was supposed to. when i tapped it, it said that it was not installed on the phone. I decided not to let this worry me, as i decided to use ROM Manager app to do the job instead.
When i opened ROM Manager it prompted me to flash Clockworkmod recovery, so I did. It flashed my phone to Clockworkmod Recovery v6.0.2.7. I then went to download Cyanogenmod 10 for my phone. It downloaded with gapps 4.1. When I tapped install, it restarted my phone into Clockworkmod recovery, but did not install anything, just sent me to the main menu. So I decided i'd try getting the zip from the Cyanogenmod website again. I booted into Clockworkmod, wiped data AND cache this time. installed the zips, and restarted. I get the same problem, stuck at the cyanogenmod boot up circles spining. so i turn off my phone, boot back into clockworkmod, restore, and now i'm stuck in boot cycle with the stock ICS.
Please can anyone help me!?!?!?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First things first: the Jelly Bean update brings with it changes to the core file system organization in Android. Google "Android 4.2 Updates, Multi-User, and TWRP | TeamWin" for a brief explanation from TWRP (which, by the way, I recommend over ClockworkMod Recovery, although both can do the job). That, I believe, explains your missing data.
How are you obtaining your ROM/gapps zips? Are you downloading on your phone? If so, over wifi or mobile data? It is always a good idea to a) download on your computer and transfer the file to the phone and b) make a note of the MD5 checksum and verify the zip file before installing (any file browser worth its salt should be able to generate an MD5 sum). What it sounds like to me is your ROM download was borked in some way but it installed far enough to screw with your file system. I would recommend using your ICS backup to connect to a computer and load a ROM file downloaded from there before attempting to re-flash.
Maybe, just maybe you didn't clear cache and dalvik when installing cm. I had this problem and I realised I didn't wipe it. I wiped cache and dalvik cache from cwm and it booted fine.
Sent from my Xperia Mini Pro
ooddiittyy said:
First things first: the Jelly Bean update brings with it changes to the core file system organization in Android. Google "Android 4.2 Updates, Multi-User, and TWRP | TeamWin" for a brief explanation from TWRP (which, by the way, I recommend over ClockworkMod Recovery, although both can do the job). That, I believe, explains your missing data.
How are you obtaining your ROM/gapps zips? Are you downloading on your phone? If so, over wifi or mobile data? It is always a good idea to a) download on your computer and transfer the file to the phone and b) make a note of the MD5 checksum and verify the zip file before installing (any file browser worth its salt should be able to generate an MD5 sum). What it sounds like to me is your ROM download was borked in some way but it installed far enough to screw with your file system. I would recommend using your ICS backup to connect to a computer and load a ROM file downloaded from there before attempting to re-flash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks I will look into TWRP. I am getting my ROM/gapps zips straight from cyanogenmod's wiki for my phone, i get gapps from the link they provide. As for MD5, I do not know what that is other than it was generated when i backed up, and checked when i restored.
i have the same problem
i tried it with my galaxy fit s5670
i tried to flash cm-10.1-20130117-NIGHTLY-beni, some another version named of jelly bean pure rom and also TouchWiz_JB_V5
always the same thing it gets stuck at logo than nothing
i did everithing in order clear data, factory reset, clear cache, clear dalvik cache through cwm recovery
can someone help?
is it because of low int. space?
i found app named s2e to make sd card as int. memory but it didn't work
any suggestions?
thanks in advance
Here's my new problem, I'm stuck in boot loop with my restore of stock ICS, so when I go into download mode (+and- with power button while usb plugged in) I hear the "ching" that windows makes when you plug in a usb device, bu when I navigate to where removable disc should be in my computer, it is not there, so i don't know what to do, I just want my phone to work again, even if that means starting all over with stock ICS.
I appreciate your time and help.
airplane888 said:
Here's my new problem, I'm stuck in boot loop with my restore of stock ICS, so when I go into download mode (+and- with power button while usb plugged in) I hear the "ching" that windows makes when you plug in a usb device, bu when I navigate to where removable disc should be in my computer, it is not there, so i don't know what to do, I just want my phone to work again, even if that means starting all over with stock ICS.
I appreciate your time and help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what ROM are you coming from?
Sounds to me like the new multi-user stuff
I experienced something similar and determined that the phone wasn't hung at that bootscreen -- it was busy moving my 18 gigs of stuff (i9300) from /storage/sdcard to /storage/sdcard/0. Apparently this is the "home data" folder for the primary user of a 4.2 device and CM10.1 (I'm assuming you're using that because of the problem) appears to be that way. It would have been nice to know beforehand that I should have just waited the 1/2-hour I needed (took about that long to move back what had been moved; very little hadn't)
So look for that 0 folder and move the contents up one -- your old ROM will (hopefully) be the way it was before. If you decide to go CM10.1 again, just wait, *really* long, at first boot -- or clean out your internal sd card to make the transition quicker.
---------- Post added at 11:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:53 PM ----------
airplane888 said:
Here's my new problem, I'm stuck in boot loop with my restore of stock ICS, so when I go into download mode (+and- with power button while usb plugged in) I hear the "ching" that windows makes when you plug in a usb device, bu when I navigate to where removable disc should be in my computer, it is not there, so i don't know what to do, I just want my phone to work again, even if that means starting all over with stock ICS.
I appreciate your time and help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You won't see it appear as removable storage because it's in download mode -- removable storage (and the later MTP mode) are done by the OS, and the downloader screen is much "dumber" than that.
HOWEVER, all is not lost!
Try get a ROM which you can flash with ODIN. Either something off of www . samfirmware . com (stock firmwares available there) or DarkyROM (darkyrom . com) (Sorry, can't post actual links because I'm apparently not allowed to until I've posted more stuff . I've found the S1 and S3 to be practically unbrickable in this regard -- I assume the S2 to be the same. ODIN can push a completely new ROM onto your device, rescuing it. If you download from samfirmware, there is a pdf with instructions available on their site, but it basically boils down to:
1) Download a ROM. If you are downloading a zip file, extract the .tar.md5 file inside somewhere -- this is the file you need to flash via ODIN
1) ensure you have the samsung drivers installed (they will be if you have Kies installed, otherwise google for them -- or ask, and I'll try to help)
2) put your phone into download mode (vol-down+home+power)
3) plug your phone into your PC
4) fire up ODIN, you should see a message about a connected device on-screen
5) click the "PDA" button, browse to the ROM image (the .tar.md5 file) and select it
6) the default options have always worked for me -- just click "Start". The process will take some time, but there is feedback in ODIN. Your phone should (after 1-5 minutes) reboot into a fresh, clean ROM.
If you installed a stock ROM from samfirmware.com, you'll have to go about rooting and installing Clockwork mod again. Hope this helps.

[Resolved] curtis klu lt7035-j minor success!

some notes
rooted using Root RK29 Tab Toolkit 1.3.
reset and vol + = flash mode rock usb.
RKAndroidToolv1.37 and RKBatchToolv1.7 work for flashing.
used rock usb driver included in either of the flash
tools. when flashing several things needed done to
enable flashing and or adb. do not enable usb storage
on the device. on windows pc used the safely remove
mass storage tool. only on the removable drives that
showed in my computer after plugging in the tablet.
in RKAndroidTool or RKBatchTool use the "switch" button
to put the unit into flash mode. I used RKAndroidTool
to flash the cwm. I tried several cwms, PER5274B_CWM.zip
was only one to boot to recovery for me
(tried many including ones from developerof cwm, just
happened to find one to boot after trying
over and over). so far. succesfully made full backups of
the unit to sd card. obviously mount the ext sd in cwm
first before backing up to sd. succesfully flashed
gapps-jb-20121011-signed.zip using PER5274B_CWM.
the stock recovery tool rejected all gapps. note gapps
sometimes closes for no apperent reason with no error.
all other gapps versions i tried crash soon as i
opened them.
cwm file working so far PER5274B_CWM.zip. have only figured
out how to boot to recovery using reboot apk.
key combo is unknown to me so far. actively trying other cwms.
Other cwm's have booted to a white screen for me.
a word to the wise, make full flash backup soon as you
get cwm on. its the only way to turn back to stock as
far as i know. I cannot find a factory rom for this
unit anywhere.
downloading cm 10.1 for rk29xxboard now, will report
results!
Cheers hope this helps out someone.
well cm10 didnt work out so well. the unit is now resting with no response. I can however still flash it with rkandroidtool. the issue I am facing now is I do not have a full dump image for this unit. I am looking for one that will at least allow me to get it to boot properly to cwm lol. I can see it with rkbatchtool as well. what I would need there is the proper parameter file. pretty sure thats all I need. I did happen to make a backup with cwm but if I cant get the tablet into cwm (currently a no go) thats not going to help me. figures I have since found out how to generate a parameter file.
good news is its not dead, just not working.
I have gotten my moneys worth out of it, not only in using this tablet but also in hacking the thing passing time.
will report further updates.
Cheers!
Well its running again, after many firmwares etc. I have the stock firmware running and two others I have modded removing system Apks I didn't want and adding a few as well.
Have several cwm backups as well, a few I plan to post links to. Googleplay works to, root, cwm and busybox also.
Still trying to get hardware keys working to launch cwm at boot by editing the parameter file. It will run when I edit the file with notepad++ and flash it but then I end up in a cwm boot loop forcing me to reflash the orig parameter file to get out of it. Cold boot will get me out if I completely drain the battery otherwise nothing short of flashing it will get me out of cwm. Using notepad++ and inserting "COMBINATION_KEY: 0,6,A,7,0" right after the kernel IMG line gets the power + volume key to start cwm at boot. Then I can't get back out lol.
stinkster said:
Well its running again, after many firmwares etc. I have the stock firmware running and two others I have modded removing system Apks I didn't want and adding a few as well.
Have several cwm backups as well, a few I plan to post links to. Googleplay works to, root, cwm and busybox also.
Still trying to get hardware keys working to launch cwm at boot by editing the parameter file. It will run when I edit the file with notepad++ and flash it but then I end up in a cwm boot loop forcing me to reflash the orig parameter file to get out of it. Cold boot will get me out if I completely drain the battery otherwise nothing short of flashing it will get me out of cwm. Using notepad++ and inserting "COMBINATION_KEY: 0,6,A,7,0" right after the kernel IMG line gets the power + volume key to start cwm at boot. Then I can't get back out lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stinkster,
Have you made any other progress? Got my kids couple LT7035-F tablets.
Thanks
To the both of you... LT7035-J
curtisint has firmware for model lt7035-j; however, when using rkbatchtool it fails at 97%. My tab is only able to connect to the pc as of now. I can see it with batchtool; however, have not found a firmware.img file to flash to it that completes and works. Very interested in the parameters file you speak of in your second post. Don't know what you know now but I was able to get it root with a tool I found on the net. I think I have it somewhere. Well anyway I was trying to reflash stock firmware because I had no sound just a popping noise/key tone which was silent only when mute. If anyone could help out with a firmware.img that will work for me that would be great.
stink you sound like you know what you are talking about, do u java develop or something?

Did I kill my phone?

I'm going to try and encapsulate everything that's going on into this initial thread but I'm sure I'll miss something.
Basically, I undertook to root my phone last night. I followed all the steps in the root thread, and I thought it worked, but then when I went to the root checker to see if I was successful. The test couldn't get a result the first time, and then failed the second time. I've known my phone to be a little temperamental when it comes to stuff like that, so I shrugged it off. Then, everything started running with so much lag that my only option was a reboot. It came back up just fine, but then, apps wouldn't open anymore. Since a reboot fixes everything, I rebooted AGAIN... except no I didn't, because I couldn't move past the white splash screen.
After some time hacking around with TWRP, system restoring my phone and the like, I finally managed to actually load the OS again. I think the phone was rooted at that time, but I don't know for sure, because this was the drawback: I couldn't install ANYTHING. My idea is that the system was rebooted into read-only mode. I tried everything I could think of to revert the system to rewriteable again, but nothing ever panned out. There was just one thing that stood out to me: "Your phone worked properly when it wasn't rooted." So, I got the brilliant idea to use SuperSU to unroot my phone. Stupid, stupid move, because now my phone can't boot past the white splash screen again. As a last ditch effort, I decided that it was time to flash the stock system to the phone. Except I probably did it wrong.
Code:
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
Code:
fastboot flash recovery system.img
Code:
fastboot flash recovery boot.img
And where I stand now is that my phone will not boot past the white splash screen, and I can no longer access either TWRP or Fastboot.
Is my phone fooked, or can anyone save this?
#1 You can't flash system image via fastboot - it's semi-locked.
#2 You can't use 'flash recovery' command for boot and system images.
#3 For restoring your phone use SP Flash Tool - there's a thread in the General section called 'How to unbrick'.
Try it and let us know.
Cheers
Yeah, I realized afterward that if I were trying to flash the image of the system, I should not have used the "flash recovery" command because I disabled access to the other recoveries, lol. I have tried to use the SP Flash Tool in the past few days, but I could never get any download progress. I think my computer isn't making the VCOM drivers accessible to be able to flash those things to my phone. Do you have any advice on that end? Because I have seen that thread and tried those steps but I'm just not successful.
You should also read all replies to this thread - there are people who solved their problems with SPFT in their own way, that's how I've revived my phone from hardbrick.
Make sure you're phone is disconnected when you start the flash. AFTER you hit the download button in SPFT... then connect your phone...
Fantastic advice from both of you. I'm ready to revive my phone!
Okay, I think I'm making good progress on recovering my phone. I have managed to get back the stock recovery onto my phone, which I then used to install TWRP. But I'm not out of the woods yet. I used fastboot to flash the boot image onto my phone also, but when it came to the system image, I'm having a lot of trouble. The only ROM I can find for the Blu Pure XL is a 7z file. Now, I know how those work, I have 7zip and I extracted it for the system image. When fastboot was available to me, I couldn't push the system image to the phone. Now that I have TWRP and I have no more access to fastboot, I've tried to load the system file onto my phone through my SD card in four different ways:
As a .img file
As a .7z file
As a .zip file that I created by zipping up the image file
As a .zip file that was .7z, but I changed the extension
None of those methods worked. The Blu development thread doesn't point me to a zipped ROM file. One person there said that they had a backup of their files and provided a link, but those images seem to have been removed.
I'm so close, I can see this phone working again in the near future, I just need your help to get me there. Please! :'(
Edit: Also, keep in mind, I'm dumb. I don't think I really did anything super wrong, but I may be missing something ultra obvious. So if you could just keep your answers dumb for me, it would help even more.
I would stop trying to use all of the methods you are using I believe you are slightly confused by them at this time..
At this point what you have done with the random image flashing is get damaged partitions..
Get SPFT. Turn off you phone completely.
Download the full Scatter file for you phone. (put it aside).
Download a file called ALL MTK driver install. ( or something to that effect). Search for it on Google. You will find it. Run it and then reboot your PC completely.. (if you have windows 8 or higher look online on how to install unsigned drivers) --THIS IS THR BIGGEST PROBLEM PEOPLE HAVE--
Extract your full downloaded scatter image to a directory.. (you can download the Gionee E8 image if you want) it is what I am running on my Blu..
Run SPFD read the thread that they pointed out to you. Find the scatter and point SPFD.. Once it is loaded on the program UNCHECK the PRELOADER check box.. (if not you can cause problems) ..
click download and after 10 seconds or so plug in (you completely powered off) phone into the computer..
.Then wait..... and wait... It will tell you it's progress..
Keep trying it, it WILL work.. and ALWAYS unchecked preloaded when flashing with spdf...
I did follow all the steps in the original guide, and I followed the steps that you gave me too, down to using the advanced device manager to remove any MediaTek drivers from the computer and restarting the computer with disabling the driver signature verification, but when I click download, wait, and plug my phone into the computer, just nothing happens. The computer says it's an unrecognized device, and the download never progresses.
I see also that you said keep trying, but every time I try the SPFT, it never sends anything to my phone. And I don't even know how to tell if I'm missing some important step.
OK this happens sometimes. plug the phone in with device manager open.. plug the phone in when it is off..
When it says unrecognized device double click on it really fast( it will disappear fast, try it a couple of times if you don't get it the first time) then hit update driver.. point it to the MTK drivers folder (unzip the MTK drivers folder). It will pick the proper driver. on some computers it loads up so fast it has no time to recognize the driver..
After you load the drivers power off your phone again and follow the instruction I gave.. After you do this once it will load the drivers right after this..
When I double click on the unrecognized device button, it just brings up a notification that my device wasn't recognized because it malfunctioned. I don't have an option to install any drivers.
My problem is finally solved. After starting up SPFT and clicking download, I held Vol - and Power and then connected it, and that pushed the download forward. I got to the Blu animation screen, and it stayed up FOREVER, but then the next time I looked over, it was on the initial setup screen. Good as new.
Thank you guys for all your help. This forum really is an amazing place.

Questions about 1st time root SM-J700P w/7.1.1

Hello. I've never bothered trying to root a phone before, but getting tired of the forceware apps being a buggy PITA you can't even disable/remove, so thought it was time to root for more control.
However, there are so many old posts, old tut videos, updates to software that might be superseded by newer software by the time you get to the last page, etc. that I'm not actually sure what's what or where to start, so figured I'd ask and hopefully get accurate info from you guys/gals that are more in the loop on the most current methods using the latest software.
Phone in question seems to be a 2015 J700PVPU2BQJ2 software version w/ J700P.03 version hardware updated to 7.1.1 and it's through Virgin. I ONLY want to root the phone, and nothing more, while trying to keep the phone as close to factory image as possible., and prefer using a PC to do it. Thought Auto-Root might be way, but it looks like it's not in use anymore?
Again, I'm new to phone rooting and the lingo, so treat me with kid gloves, thank you.
J727P
Nupid Stoob said:
Hello. I've never bothered trying to root a phone before, but getting tired of the forceware apps being a buggy PITA you can't even disable/remove, so thought it was time to root for more control.
However, there are so many old posts, old tut videos, updates to software that might be superseded by newer software by the time you get to the last page, etc. that I'm not actually sure what's what or where to start, so figured I'd ask and hopefully get accurate info from you guys/gals that are more in the loop on the most current methods using the latest software.
Phone in question seems to be a 2015 J700PVPU2BQJ2 software version w/ J700P.03 version hardware updated to 7.1.1 and it's through Virgin. I ONLY want to root the phone, and nothing more, while trying to keep the phone as close to factory image as possible., and prefer using a PC to do it. Thought Auto-Root might be way, but it looks like it's not in use anymore?
Again, I'm new to phone rooting and the lingo, so treat me with kid gloves, thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok you have an older phone the J700P you can start by downloading odin an twrp recovery an superSU zip you can get twrp from here !https://twrp.me/devices/samsunggalaxyj72015qcomsprint.html
an odin from here
https://mega.nz/#!nYVDXBAC!_cTWbW4_Ow8sZMWcZvO7bVwEEBFlD1DQsB5NeFhj1EY
An just google latest superSU zip to find that !
good luck !
step 1 enable oem in development settings !
step 2 put phone into download mod an flash twrp then boot into twrp recovery an flash superSU zip !
Thank you for the info. I'm presently confused. Here's what I've done:
I ran Odin and flashed with twrp-3.2.1-0-j7ltespr.img.tar. It went through successfully going off odin's message.
Vol. up + home + power. It'll eventually show a yellow triangle with the white trash can guy on it's side stating "No Command". Power + up gets the Android Recovery screen.
At this point, am I supposed to choose the Wipe Data/factory reset option? I see tuts that seem suggest I should already be in the twrp UI or something. I've tried watching vids and looking at a handful of tuts, but either they are the wrong phone, too old, the button combos show something else entirely, etc.
Thanks!
Anyone? Videos show the buttons vol. up + home + power as booting right into twrp recovery gui. For me, it's going into "Android Recovery" screen. Is there an extra step with Odin or something that I missed? Or am I supposed to wipe/boot in the Android Recovery screen and it'll boot the twrp recovery gui? If bricking something I'm not familiar with wasn't a concern, I'd be courageous with it.
I tried the twrp-3.1.1-2-j7ltespr.img.tar and same thing. Odin says it's a success. Phone boots up to normal phone screen. Videos show the person's phone booting right into Twrp recovery. Mine acts like nothing changed. Root checker says unrooted. The Twrp app says unrooted. OEM Unlock and Debugging options in phone are selected, and I have it set for manual updates.
Anyone have an idea what's going on here?
J700P
Nupid Stoob said:
I tried the twrp-3.1.1-2-j7ltespr.img.tar and same thing. Odin says it's a success. Phone boots up to normal phone screen. Videos show the person's phone booting right into Twrp recovery. Mine acts like nothing changed. Root checker says unrooted. The Twrp app says unrooted. OEM Unlock and Debugging options in phone are selected, and I have it set for manual updates.
Anyone have an idea what's going on here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok when flashing twrp with Odin first uncheck auto reboot in options flash twrp pull battery replace battery an boot into twrp an flash superSU zip then reboot system !
Thank you so much Peter! That did the trick THANK YOU :good:
For posterity to anyone else w/limited root knowledge with a SM-J700P Virgin variant running 7.1.1 (and what was most recent factory updates until this point); Flashed the twrp-3.2.1-0-j7ltespr.img.tar again w/o auto reboot in options of Odin, pulled battery once safe (i.e. you get the "Pass" message from Odin confirming everything went as planned) to get out of the downloading screen, replaced battery, booted the recovery (vol up + power + home) and it finally booted into the twrp recovery gui. Selected the "Install" option, then went to where the supersu.zip was stored on the SD (I created a separate "supersu" folder via PC connection for easy locating; internal phone memory card looks to now be unlocked, so can most likely use that if you don't have a SD card). Checked the "reboot once installed option" in the gui box and swiped to install supersu,zip and verified it was rooted via app after phone fully booted back up.
BTW, If anyone gets a hang/crash in Odin immediately after trying to select a twrp tar image in the "AP" box, try downloading the twrp image via PC instead of the through the phone (the legit twrp site that has the repository of past/current .tar), and just put it somewhere like Odin folder on desktop. Somehow, mine were getting corrupted via phone download through the twrp app, and Odin would NOT recognize the file was bad/corrupt when trying to select it via the AP box and hangs instead of giving a warning message. I ran into this earlier on then noticed the file was too small for some reason after viewing it on my PC, hence the Odin hang that needed a task manager kill.
I hate to necro an old thread but I still do not want to create an entire new topic for a single question. If I was to follow this info will it wipe the phone or will it simply root it while keeping all data on the phone? I ask as it is my wife's old phone and she would be pissed if I wiped her apps and everything on accident since she wont be able to remember what she had.
Edit: also when I add the TWRP file to odin it immediately hang/crashes like OP mentions but I am already DLing via pc. any thoughts?

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